Journey of an aspiring poet

Sunday

Hey everyone! Sorry for not writing any posts for a long time, I've been quite busy with schoolwork and stuff. I have been writing poetry a bit here and there though; I just haven't found the time to actually sit down and write a post. To be honest the only reason I'm writing this post right now is because frankly, I've got nothing else to do. Well that's not true. I've got plenty of stuff to do, I just don't feel like doing any of it.

Okay so now I'm going to talk about this poem. This post is probably very overdue. Say, 3 months and 28 days overdue? For the benefit of those of you who didn't just check, Valentine's Day was 3 months and 28 days ago. That's right; you've guessed it, today's poem is going to be a Valentine's Day poem!

Without further ado...

In love with her...
By Oliver Nolastname

What was it about her that mesmerized me so?
Was it her lustrous hair, like rivers of black gold?
Or her eyes, shifting from dark brown to rich amber?
All I know for sure is that I’m in love with her…

Might it have been that pretty provocative smile,
That made my pursuit of her seem almost worthwhile?
What was it? I have absolutely no idea,
All I know for sure is that I’m in love with her...

Of course, it might have been her personality;
Nothing can hope to compare to inner beauty…
What was it? I guess it doesn’t really matter;
All I need to know is that I’m in love with her…

I'm actually really proud of this particular poem. I think it's one of, if not the best poem I've ever written. I liked the idea of having a recurring line throughout the poem, and so at the end of each quatrain I put some variation of the line "All I know for sure is that I'm in love with her...", hence the poem title, 'In love with her'.

Saturday

Oh hey everyone! I'm writing this right after the Temasek Academy Orientation Camp, which was freaking awesome by the way. We did a whole lot of fun stuff during camp including Mass dances, which were especially awesome. Although I think I may have made myself a reputation of being over-enthusiastic ^^

Whatever.

Okay, so this sonnet is entitled "New life in a new school" and I'm not going to do a post mortem for this one because 1. I'm too lazy to write one and 2. I don't want to be over-critical on what is supposed to be a fun uplifting poem.

New life in a new school

By Oliver Nolastname

I used to be from Victoria School;

A locale where only boys used to dwell.

And when I learnt I had to start anew,

I felt that all my dreams were shot to hell…

I was to attend a new school, you see?

A school that went by the name TJC.

The leaves are at my feet, the grass is dead,

Time to wake up to TJC instead…

But then I went for orientation,

And my OG Venere was awesome

Everyone seemed to have a lot of fun

One day has ended, a new one has come

Now, it’s time for my opening debut,

Time to start a new life in a new school

Just to clarify, TJC stands for Temasek Junior College, OG for Orientation Group and Venere is the name of my group (as well for the goddess of love). Also just wanted to say that I'm really looking forward to a new year. I'm in class 1B'12, by the way, if I have any classmates reading this.

Monday

Oh hey there, merry belated Christmas! I hope you've had as awesome a Christmas as I had! Anyway, for my Christmas present to anyone who actually knows about this blog, I've decided to showcase a poem I wrote waaaaaaaaay back in Primary 5 or Primary 6. I quite like this poem because 1. I had never written a poem before this and 2. I just find it quite cute :D

Now, on with the show

Why?

By Oliver Nolastname

Why can’t I fly like a soaring eagle
Why can’t I work like the bumblebee
Why can’t the job I have be the most regal
Why are all these luxuries denied me…

Why do people cheat, and lie too
Why do we have and still want more
Why does everyone worry and woe
Why, on my face, do the tears start to pour…

Why don’t we all gather and laugh
Why doesn’t money grow on trees
Why can’t I be in the upper class
Why am I always denied these…

But then I realize I’m scared of heights
I have some money and I don’t need more
People may cheat but I’ll put up a good fight
I may not be perfect but I’m not far offshore…

Okedokie, now for the post-mortem. Call my biased, but I really like this poem because, from what I remember, I spent a good part of a Saturday afternoon writing this and I like to think that it's pretty good. I don't think there's a whole lot to be said so I'll just leave it at that.

Friday

Greetings earthlings, I'm back again with another poem, not a sonnet this time! But there's something special about this particular sonnet. First let me give you a brief explanation of the Singapore Education System.

Alright, so every student has to go through 6 compulsory years of Primary School. After that, they go through the Primary School Leaving Examination, or PSLE for short. Now students who wish to further their education select which Secondary School to go to, there are 4 different types of Secondary School Education but for the sake of summary, I'll only talk about 2 of them. First, there is the Express stream, which caters to the majority of students. These students go through 4 years of Secondary School education and then, after taking their 'O' Levels, can choose to either go to the Institute of Technical Education (ITE), Polytechnic, Junior College, or Millenia Institute, which is basically JC except it covers the course material in 3 years instead of the usual 2 years. Secondly, there is the Integrated Programme, which is a 6 year course, which skips the 'O' Levels.

Now let's talk about me; I took the PSLE and managed to clinch a space in Victoria School. I applied to go for the Integrated Programme, through a back door, in year 2. Call it sheer luck, intelligence, or a combination of the 2, but I managed to get through into Temasek Academy, which is one of the schools which offers the Integrated Programme. Those who applied were filtered by means of tests and interviews until only the ones who were to be admitted were left. Of those tests, there was a Mathematics Aptitude Test and an English Test. For the English Test, we were asked to write either a short story or a poem which included the words 'It was only then that I realised that I was colour-blind'. That was one of the first times I wrote poetry, and I can honestly say that if not for that test, I would probably never have got into it in the first place. Without further ado, the poem, which I wrote for my English Test:

There once was a girl

By Oliver Nolastname

There once was a girl,
A very pretty girl.
She made me want to skip and dance and twirl,
Yes, indeed, she rocked my world.

I sat behind in English Class,
And thrice a day, I would ask:
Would you like help with your books?
She was smart, kind and had good looks.

She always said no,
And told me to go.
It broke my heart,
That hers was so hard.

I hatched up a plan,
To make me her man.
She would not say no,
Because I would make it so.

So I wrote a song,
For her heart I did long.
The feeling I had,
It could not be wrong

Violets are red,
And roses are blue.
I just want to say
That I love you.

I sang through the first line,
Then the second and third.
Thinking of the prospect,
Of making her mine.

She always said no,
And told me to go.
She would not this time;
For it was a song that did rhyme.

When I got to the fourth line,
I realized that my poem,
Did not make sense.
It was only then I realized that I was colour-blind.

Usually this would be the part where I write the post-mortem for my poem but in this particular case, I think that it would hardly be necessary, as this poem contributed to my getting into Temasek Academy. I might like to add however, this poem might seem a bit rough around the edges because I didn't have enough time to file it down and finish editing. After all, they gave us half an hour.

Now, for my signing off. I'd like to wish everyone out there a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. Here's to a good year ahead!

Wednesday

Hey all, I'm back again with a brand spanking new sonnet! You know, I'm really struggling to write the prelude to these sonnets. So how about this: I'm just gonna talk a bit about myself.

The first you that you should know about me is that I'm freaking awesome. It occurs to me that I might seem a bit pusillanimous and bashful, judging from my last two blog posts. This is true to a certain extent, but I think that there's another more real extreme to me; I'm a bit socially awkward in the fact that I like to be in the centre of attention. Some call it ADD, others call it confidence. But whatever, I like to call it being awesome.

As I'm writing this, it occurs to me: whomever found this blog post was probably just looking forward to reading a sonnet and I've probably already scared off a couple of prospecting sonnet-finders. Whatever. But to not occupy any more your time, that is if there's actually anyone reading this blog post, I think I'll just post the sonnet now.

Bear in mind, I'm not exactly the best poet of all time but I like to think that I'm halfway between decent and good. So if you hate the poem cos you have horrible taste and suck (Naw, but seriously), let me down lightly, will you? Thanks :D

Okedokie, here goes...

Taking the Leap

By Oliver Nolastname

How close to the ledge can boy and girl go,

Without ultimately making the leap?

We’re ready for the next step, this I know

Together the treasures of love, we’ll reap.

How like an ocean is my love for thee

Deep blue yonder as far as eye can see.

‘Tis invariable and unchanging,

Just as my love for you is abiding.

But three words act as a dam to my love;

Three words I cannot say, being so shy.

So do I pray for courage from above,

To take the final leap and make you mine.

And now without any further ado,

The part you’ve been waiting for: I love you…

Now time for the post-mortem of the sonnet. I actually quite like this one, I think that out of the three I've written so far, this is the best one. For one, it's in perfect Iambic Pentameter, holding it's form in every line. For another, I think it flows off the tongue, even though it's hard for me to be objective and unbiased; it being my poem and all. On another topic, this time it's not Shakespearean, cos I'm crazy and I like to mix things up. But yeah, this sonnet isn't a Shakespearean sonnet because the rhyme scheme is ABABCCDDEFEFGG as opposed to ABABCDCDEFEFGG.

Well, look at the time! Dear me, I have to go; things to see and people to do. Or something like that.

Tuesday

Oh, hi there! Seeing as you've stumbled upon this blog, you're probably a fan of poetry. I'm just your average geek (Proud of it) who likes to write poetry and is apparently freaking awesome. If you've read my last post, you probably already know that my disclosed name is Oliver Nolastname.

All in all, my poetry is super freaking awesome. That's quite a bit of awesome so you should go tell your friends about it. Or if you don't have friends, tell your mom. Say hi to her for me. She'll know who you mean. Trust me. Fine, she probably won't know who you mean. But she'll love my poems nonetheless.

And now for my second sonnet...

*Cue drumroll*

Dude, I said cue drumroll, you're gonna have to start drumming.

Alright that's better. Now on with the show!

Classroom Couple

By Oliver Nolastname

What great wrong you do me, my fair lady;

Stealing my attention from where ‘tis due:

For what mortal could ever resist thee?

It was love at first sight, in the classroom…

As you came through the front doors, books in hand.

I prayed you would take the seat next to mine

I wanted more than to just be your friend;

A better woman I would never find.

Whatever can I do to win thine heart,

For thou surely has num’rous admirers;

Being so pretty, kind and also smart.

My love for you is like a blazing fire…

Prepare for trouble and make it double.

You and I; we’ll be a classroom couple…

Okay now for the post mortem for this sonnet. This time I wrote strictly in iambic pentameter, go ahead check if you don't believe me. I still do think it's a bit choppy though. I added in the second last line because Pokemon is awesome (If you disagree, you have no soul) and I couldn't think of anything else that rhymed with couple. All in all I prefer my first sonnet more though. To help me improve my poetry-writing skills, please comment (Or send a PM, your choice) and spread this blog around!

Alas, it's time to sign off again. These sessions of creativity outlet go by so fast... *sigh*

Wednesday

Hey guys, this post is a first for me. You see, I'm secretly a poet. That's why, as an outlet to my excessive creativity, I've decided to make a blog to exhibit my poems! Also, I've decided to remain anonymous. Although I will reveal that my first name is Oliver.

Alright, enough with all the talk; since most, if there are any of you out there, of the people who clicked on the blog post just wanted to read a sonnet for whatever reason... perhaps since you need one for school? Or maybe you want to give it to a special someone, I dunno.
Okay now I'm going to briefly preface my sonnet with a short explanation of what a Shakespearean sonnet is, although I think the majority of you probably already do. Okay, first of all you need to understand what an iamb is. An iamb is essentially metric foot of poetry, it's distinguished by the fact that it follows the rhythm of an unstressed syllable and then a stressed one, for example, the word 'about'. The 'a' in 'about' is unstressed and the 'bout' in about is stressed, therefore, it is an iambic word. Also, the word pentameter refers to five metric feet. Therefore, an iambic pentameter, is essentially just 5 counts of 'da-DUM'. Also, what defines a Shakespearian sonnet is that it consists of 14 iambic pentameters, rhymed in the 'a,b,a,b,c,d,c,d,e,f,e,f,g,g' format, essentially just three quatrains (4-lined stanzas) with a friendly couplet added in at the end.

Alright, now for the moment you've all been waiting for (Or just skipped everything and scrolled down to see), my poem.

Alright, since this is the first time I'm showing anyone, apart from a Literature teacher, a poem that I made, I'd like to ask any readers to not be too critical, after all, this is my first sonnet. Also, don't expect too much of me; again, this is my first poem and I'm still quite reluctant to release it to the world, even the virtual world. Plus, I am just a teenager so don't expect any Shakespeare-worthy poetry.

Okay here goes (For real this time):

Costly Gems
By Oliver Nolastname

Her eyes have the opalescence of jewels,
Glimm'ring in the soft pale light of the Sun.
We are here together, two love drunk fools,
Alone in the pasture where two b'come one.
I have seen rubies, beautiful though flawed,
But no flaws can I see in those brown eyes.
So do I pray to the kind and loving God;
For giving unto me the ultimate prize.
But how could I hope to keep her happy,
Without the s'pposed boon of loose pursestrings?
For what could this angel see in me,
Apart from being able to buy her things?
O' sweet Darling, would you please stay with me,
If I promise to do my best to keep you happy?

Now for the post-mortem, after my delivery. I might be biased, but I am quite proud of this sonnet, which just happens to the 10th draft I was working on, I guess 10th time's the charm. Although I do know that not all the lines are in perfect iambic pentameter, with some irregular rhythms in certain lines and thirteen syllables in the last line. All in all though, I'm very happy I decided to post it and I'm very keen to see what all of you think of it.